Two Weeks
by Xekstrin
Summary: Long story short, Blake is in heat and all her friends are hot and single. This could be really good, or really, really bad. [Blake/Ruby/Yang/Weiss, TW: Incest]
1. Chapter 1

It was an accident at first, but as time went on, Blake started actively looking for more hints at what Yang and Ruby's true relationship might be.

She spied them from time to time, holding hands, brushing against each other, grabbing quick kisses in dark corners when they thought no one was looking. Their hugs lingering too long, their eyes catching each other, making normal conversations suddenly intense moments of intimacy. It got to the point where she wondered how anyone _couldn't_ notice how those two could make the whole world disappear when they looked at each other.

Quite frankly, it made her flushed.

As the longest day of the year drew closer, she began to twitch with annoyance each time her teammates shared what they would be doing for their break. Each of them had a home to return to, and family traditions to be upheld. Roots to tend to. More than ever she began to envy Ruby and Yang's closeness.

Yang was her partner, and Ruby one of her first true friends. She would never say anything out loud for fear that she sounded exactly as possessive as she felt. But they were _her_ friends, and she chafed at every mention of their life before her.

She carefully pieced together tidbits of their history from months of overheard conversations and inside jokes. Each one felt like uncovering a fossil, delightful and intricate. Yet they were also a sour reminder that she, too might soon be just another memory, a name without a face for someone else to puzzle over in their future.

She hated getting attached to people.

"Hello? Blake? Are you even listening to me?"

Blinking a few times, Blake glanced down at her teammate. Weiss snapped her fingers in front of Blake's face a few times, trying to get her attention. "Did you hear a word I just said?"

"I might have heard two."

Weiss growled, rolling her eyes and yanking on her luggage. Following suit, Blake helped her out, slinging one of Weiss' duffel bags over her shoulder. Yang and Ruby were already waiting for them at the school's entrance, near the plane that would take them home. Most of her friends would be departing on that flight, not to return for two weeks. She wasn't sure how she'd spend her time alone; every time she tried to think too hard about it her mind shut down.

That's the problem with making friends, of course. Once they leave, you realize you've forgotten how you ever managed on your own.

Weiss walked with her usual urgency and determination, each clack of her heels making everyone know this was a woman with a destination. Weiss reeked of rich city folk, rushing here and there with their eyes on their tablets and their faces set in the stoniest, most inhospitable glares.

"As I was saying," she said, glancing over her shoulder once to make sure Blake was listening this time. "I know we've had our. Disagreements this year."

 _Really, now._ Blake bit her tongue to keep from saying anything too sharp, though she did grin at Weiss's back. Only a Schnee would have the audacity to refer to their explosively disastrous friendship as a 'disagreement'. Where once she would have found it infuriating, time had mellowed them out as team mates, and now all she could do was try not to laugh at how self absorbed one person could be.

"All right."

"And I just want you to know that I was unaware of your living arrangements."

"I understand."

Stopping in her tracks, Weiss whirled around to face her, looking stern. "No, you don't," she said, frowning deeply. Her gaze dropped to the ground, forehead wrinkling. "I didn't know you'd be staying here alone."

Was she trying to apologize? Blake shifted the duffel bag once, glancing around them at the empty hallway. "It's really okay," she said, awkwardly.

"My parents already purchased my tickets."

"I know."

"There really wasn't any way to refund them by the time I found out."

"I know." Though neither of them were tactile by nature, she rested one hand on Weiss' shoulder. It just seemed like the thing to do. "You told me this already."

She seemed distressed. "Did I?"

"Twice." She smirked at Weiss' expression of horror. Even if they were friends now, there was a certain amount of satisfaction in watching her squirm. "Weiss, I understand you feel bad for me, but I really don't need your pity." She jerked her chin down the hallway, towards the dorm entrance. "The plane is waiting."

"It's not pity," she insisted. "I just." Stomping one foot, she let out a frustrated noise. "Oh, curse it all!" Turning just the slightest shade of pink, she started rummaging around in the outer pocket of her suitcase, trying to find something inside. She pulled out a parcel at last, thrusting it into Blake's hands. "I'm trying to say I'm going to miss you, you dense... idiot!"

A gift. Shocked by its sudden delivery as she was by the prospect of receiving a gift from _the_ Weiss Schnee, Blake set down the duffel bag and tore it open unceremoniously. The paper was very high quality material, not the thin, plastic-seeming stuff her childhood toys had been wrapped in. It was thick, heavy, beautifully dyed, and tied with a length of twine. Inside it was a small, silver bracelet cushioned in a white box.

Looking up at Weiss with questioning eyes, she just bit her lower lip, not wanting to say anything.

"I know you don't like necklaces," Weiss said, trying to fill the silence. She wasn't as comfortable with it as Blake was. "And I didn't know if your ears were pierced. So. I hope you like it. I mean of course you will, it's a perfectly thought out gift." That last statement was accompanied by a disdainful toss of her hair.

It sure was a lot of bluster to cover up such obvious nerves. "I like it a lot," she reassured her, pinching the box to her torso with her elbow so both her hands could be free to put the charm bracelet on. Impatient as ever, Weiss slapped her wrist, insisting that she would do it faster. She snapped it on, and just as Blake was about to open her mouth to say thank you, something happened.

Weiss's fingers brushed over the bare skin of her inner wrist. The platonic movement sent a thrill down Blake's spine; for all that it was a simple touch, it felt like it lasted a lifetime. A low, familiar throb pulsed in her lower abdomen, insistent and loathsome.

….Oh.

Oh _no_.

The heiress pulled back as if she had been shocked, clutching her hand to her chest, eyebrows bunching together in confusion. "Huh," she said. "That was…" Her throat bobbed. "Weird."

"Static?" Blake asked with a perfectly practiced poker face. "Sorry."

Staring at her, hard, Weiss caught herself before it got too obvious and took another step back, shaking her head to clear it. "Must have been," she said. "A- anyway, we need to stop stalling and get on with this!"

Alarm bells rang. Blake knew what was coming, but before she could think of a way to prevent it Weiss had stepped back up to her, wrapping her arms around Blake's shoulders in a squeezing hug. It only lasted a few moments, but by the end Blake was already reeling.

Observant by nature, she had long since memorized Weiss's habits. She showered at night before going to bed, brushed out her hair, applied lotion to her joints. Every morning Blake watched her dab two careful spots of perfume on each of her wrists and on the sides of her neck. It overwhelmed her heightened senses, lilies and sugar, not the stringent, sharp bite of the cheap things Ruby spritzed on every day. Blake clasped her desperately, holding her much tighter than she was being held, burying her face in the crook of her neck to linger there in that scent. A good amount of bare skin touched, electricity surging through each spot in a buzz of pleasure.

Surprised, Weiss squirmed out of her grasp, staring at her for a few extra seconds than she should have.

"A farewell hug. Here. So we don't… embarrass ourselves at the docks…" Weiss explained, words vague even though her actions were crisp and purposeful as usual. Already lifting her luggage up, she nodded her head down the hallway, signalling for Blake to go first.

Her whole body pulsed now, a tension headache forming and her senses still addled with Weiss' scent. She could still feel her thin frame giving way under the pressure of her embrace, how frail Weiss had been in her arms. Like an icicle.

 _Shit._

 _Shit, shit, shit._

Grabbing Weiss by the wrist, Blake dragged her back to the bedroom, abandoning the luggage right there in the hallway. "What do yo—" Weiss started, but another pulse echoed inside her, sending a current of desire down from the place where her bare hand wrapped around Weiss's wrist. " _Ah_ —" Weiss grimaced, a flicker of conflicting emotions waging war on her face.

Yanking her inside, Blake only had enough time to slam the door shut before she started getting an earful. Now that she had let her go, Weiss wasn't shocked into silence anymore, the butterflies having fled along with the lack of skin contact.

"Blake, honestly," she started, voice trembling, "If there's something you need to tell—"

Blake pressed her against the door with a kiss, both hands grasping her face, lips curling to catch any spare words that tried to escape. With so much skin contact now, and with Blake in such close quarters, even Weiss couldn't deny that spark between them had erupted into something much more. Groaning into her mouth, Weiss closed her eyes, twining her arms tightly around Blake's neck to pull her closer. Blake pushed her hunting jacket off, palm curving over her shoulder. Waves of pleasure radiated from every point they touched without a barrier, growing more intense the longer they stayed that way.

Kissing her again and again, Blake moved down to her neck, not impeded by the frills of her jacket anymore. "Weiss—" she said between kisses, fingers tangling up in her thick white hair. "We need to stop— please—"

At first, Blake wasn't sure it got through to her. She unbuttoned Blake's vest, pushing up her shirt over her chest. There was only a hint of hesitation, her hand hovering over Blake's breast, fighting the urge, or maybe just trying to hold onto some semblance of respectability. Growling against her neck, Blake pushed forward, not giving her a choice, and she gladly took the hint, squeezing gleefully.

And then she stiffened up, her whole body going rigid with shock.

Pulling away with a gasp, Weiss put her hands on Blake's shoulder, holding her at arm's length. When another happy buzz radiated out from even that simple contact, she retracted her arms close to her chest, keeping them far from any part of Blake.

"Did I just—" she said, some of the light returning to her eyes. "What just…?" She touched her face, as if to assure herself this wasn't a dream. "What just happened." Eyes narrowing, she squished even closer to the door, eyeing Blake warily. "Blake! What just happened!" she said again, sharper this time as Blake flushed, pulling down her shirt and trying to button up her vest again. "Blake Belladonna, you explain this this instant!"

Blake winced, drumming at her forehead with the heels of her palms as she took a few steps back, trying to keep a safe distance. One hand on the wall to brace herself, Blake caught her breath. Thankfully, Weiss hadn't been as badly affected by it as she was.

Their proximity as team mates meant that she definitely had felt it too, but she seemed to be better at keeping her head screwed on straight.

Pulling out her scroll from her pocket, Blake checked the date, letting it confirm what she already knew. Weiss continued to lecture her, but it went over her head, all of it mindless noise distracting her from the real problem.

Rubbing the back of her neck where a sharp, stress-induced pain nagged at her, she waited for Weiss to take a breath before she explained everything.

She was in heat.

Truth be told, she knew it might fall on this week, more or less. She just hadn't expected it to come _now_ , of all times.

And triggered by Weiss, of all people! Yang she could understand. Even Ruby. But _Weiss_?

Silent for once, Weiss accepted it with a lot more calm than Blake expected. Or maybe her brain was stilled addled, who knew? But, breathing out a long sigh, she straightened her jacket and crisply popped its collar, avoiding any eye contact. "Do the others know about this?" she asked, trying to fix her clothes, though Blake hadn't really gotten under her dress.

Blake shook her head.

"And it'll pass in a few days?"

She nodded.

"Then we'll keep it that way."

"Weiss—"

She held up a hand for silence, opening up the door behind her. "After you," she said, gesturing outside. "So you don't pounce on me when my back is turned."

Flushing bright red, Blake did as she was told, muttering, "I would _not_ ," as she passed.

" _And_ you can carry both my bags."

Opening her mouth to protest, Blake forced it shut, realizing that she was in the wrong in this scenario. Pheromones were no excuse to kiss your friends without permission, even if they were being affected by it too. _Especially_ if they were being affected by it too.

"It won't happen again if our bare skin doesn't touch," she said, picking up the duffel bag and balancing it over her shoulder. The box that had held her gift lay on the floor, discarded in her fit, and she flushed again to see it next to Weiss's suitcase right where they had left it.

Weiss passed her, bending down to pick up the box, and though she knew it was just her hormones, she relished the small waft of her perfume that she picked up in her wake. When she glanced over at Blake, motioning again that she should go first, Blake picked her suitcase in her free hand and half walked, half jogged to the docks.

The sooner Weiss Schnee was gone, the sooner she could pretend this hadn't happened.

* * *

Opening up her arms, Ruby stood between the entrance to the plane and her partner, stance battle ready.

"Weiss," Ruby said, eyes brimming up with tears that threatened to dribble all over her face. Weiss would be the last person to board; Yang and Ruby would be departing later that evening on a separate plane.

"No," Weiss said. "And you can quit the crocodile tears, I know when you're faking it."

Ruby stomped one foot, immediately switching to a scowl. "Weiss, come _on_."

"I said no! We already had a goodbye hug, Ruby. Yesterday. Remember? Blake got hers today."

 _I'll say,_ Blake thought. Though it boded well that Weiss hadn't immediately told, she wondered if she really would keep quiet, or if she was just waiting for the right moment to furiously text all their mutual friends that Blake was a degenerate, a pervert in hiding.

Taking advantage of the fact that Weiss was distracted, Yang snuck up on her, bending down low to wrap her arms around the girl's waist and lifting her up high in a crushing bear hug.

"You can't schedule hugs, Schnee!" she said joyously as the heiress threw a fit, kicking and shouting to be put down. Lowering her just enough to secure her grip again, Yang squeezed even tighter, this time managing to get Weiss's arms pinned to her sides. "Ruby, quick! Get one in before I lose her!"

"Group hug!" Ruby sang, squishing Weiss between them.

"I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU ALL IN YOUR SLEEP."

Blake watched, trying not to grin even though she still felt guilt riding heavy in her chest. She had brushed against several people on the docks, friends seeing each other off and departing on the many ships from the academy. Though she could feel everything with a certain heightened awareness, none of them had the same effect as Weiss. There needed to be an intense emotional bond first before there was any room for physical attraction; more than anything else, it confirmed how close they had become in recent months.

Assuming Weiss didn't hate her now.

Setting Weiss down with a laugh, Yang clapped her on the back and Ruby held her again, refusing to let go until the last call for boarding passengers rang out. "Please, please, please text me when you land," Ruby said, letting go only to latch onto her hand. "I'm gonna miss you Weiss," she said, holding her hand up in both of hers to squeeze it.

"You'll see me in two weeks," Weiss promised her. "All of you."

The last comment was directed at Blake, their eyes meeting for the first time since they awkwardly shuffled out of their room. "I look forward to it," she said.

Weiss nodded, and with that she was off, boarding the plane, and taking all her mixed feelings with her.

They sat on the edge of the cliffs outside Beacon, hurrying there after the plane departed to watch it shrink further and further away. "This sucks," Ruby said, moping, with her head resting on Yang's shoulder. Peeking at them from the corner of her eye, Blake could tell they were holding hands again, too.

 _These_ two. At least her situation with Weiss was just a matter of upset chemicals; when were Ruby and Yang going to come clean about _their_ relationship? Curiosity ate her up alive, not that she was willing to admit it any time soon.

She had been careful to not touch either of them too much after Weiss left. If she did, it was never directly on their skin. It was stressful, but not impossible. And she only had to keep it up for another hour or so. The last plane would be leaving then, and she could finally be alone.

"Are you all packed and ready to leave?" she asked, and Ruby jolted to sit up straight, maybe not realizing how snuggly she was getting with Yang.

Shooting Blake a wicked grin, Yang propped her head on top of Ruby's. "Nope," she said.

Blake frowned. "That's not funny, Yang. You need to make sure you're all—"

"We're not leaving!" Ruby interjected, throwing her hands up in the air. "We just told Weiss that so she wouldn't get jealous." A brief hint of exhaustion entered her voice. "That girl was so upset about leaving you."

Blake stared.

"…Don't tell her I said that," Ruby added, misinterpreting her horrified silence.

"So what do you wanna do tomorrow, partner?" Yang asked, reaching over to ruffle her hair. Blake stiffened, waiting for the inevitable surge of desire, but none came, thankfully. It was only a matter of time, though— she knew this for a fact.

And she knew these were going to be two very long, very stressful weeks together.


	2. Chapter 2

Blake set down her black card, reading it out loud for her friends' benefit. "Nothing brings life to a party like…?" she trailed off, waiting for them to respond with their white cards.

The two sisters gazed at their hands with equal intensity, the same pinch in their eyebrows making them look actually related for once.

They slapped their cards down at the same time, each trying to out do the other in finding a white card that would please Blake. Ruby's card said "arsenic-laced sippy cups" and Yang's read "ten beowolves humping your leg in rapid succession."

She sat back, lounging in the late afternoon sunlight. Though her hormones still bothered her, an impromptu picnic with her friends near the lake had been sufficient distraction to keep herself from sitting in the dark, struggling with her own bodily urges. "Ah, man," she said under her breath, tugging on her faunus ear where it was hidden under her bow. Being around their dorm room without the binding had taken a while to get used to, but when they went out in public she still insisted on its use. "Those are both good cards."

"Pick mine!" Yang said, bouncing in place with excess energy. The blanket they were sitting on crumpled up under her, threatening to knock over her plastic cup. "Pick mine pick mine pick mine! Mine's the best and you know it!"

"Hmm." Her eyes narrowed in thought. "Ruby, argue for your card."

"Mine makes more sense!" Ruby insisted. "You'd have cups at a party. Why would you have beowolves at a party?"

Making a noise of disgust, Yang grabbed Ruby by the shoulder and pushed her over. Their fearless leader willingly went with the movement, flopping down on her side and laughing. "How could you say that? Mine is the superior card. If the mental image of ten beowolves humping your leg isn't funny then we're not friends."

Though she felt a twinge of guilt for betraying her partner, her weak point was when people actually made a story with the cards. "I'm picking Ruby's," she said, cracking a smile when Ruby threw her fists in the air and crowed in triumph.

Yang nearly burnt down her whole hand. "No!" she said, tossing them down with a distressed scowl. "That deadens the party, it _deadens_ it! The party is literally dead now."

"I enjoy the cruel irony of it." She scribbled down another point for Ruby, trying not to grin at the steam rising from the backs of Yang's arms. She and Ruby had splashed around in the lake for a while, but felt guilty when they realized Blake couldn't join them without risking damage to her bow. A few other students who had stayed behind for the break shrieked and roughhoused in the water and on the shore, fully enjoying the relief from the summer heat.

"This means I win," Ruby said, crossing her arms with a smug grin. "We were playing to ten points, and that was number ten. Loser has to clean up!" she said, zipping to her feet and running back into the water.

Glancing at the score cards, Blake saw she was right— and she herself had the least amount of points after the game ended. "Guess that's me."

Shaking her head, Yang started picking up their cups and plates, letting Blake know she was willing to help out. Blake put away the cards as Yang threw away the garbage and shook out all the crumbs from their blanket. "I'm gonna get you back for not picking my card, you know," she said, folding up the blanket. They could stay longer, but Ozpin was picky about curfews, and Blake wanted to return home in time to nab the showers before the other students.

Without the game to distract her mind, it was getting harder to ignore the two of them in their swimsuits. As usual, they displayed their complete lack of awareness for each other's personal space. Blake had been observing their behavior for so long, trying to prove to herself that she wasn't crazy, and wasn't imagining things, that it was second nature now.

So she caught every arm stroke out of the corner of her eye, the way they sat next to each other so that their thighs touched, the way their hands lingered when they fooled around under the water, thinking no one was paying attention.

She really needed to stop paying attention.

It was getting voyeuristic, and she'd caught them kissing on the lips often enough to more or less confirm her suspicions. Letting out a heavy breath, Blake clapped her hands against her cheeks when Yang stalked down to the water to retrieve Ruby. Her cycle was killing her. Just a few more days of this and she would be better, and maybe she'd stop staring at her teammates like they were pieces of meat.

A tap on her shoulder. Thankfully, she was covered by a shawl, so there was no direct skin contact, but it still sent a rush of heat through her.

"Huh?" she said, blinking a few times before she focused on Yang, who carried a dripping wet Ruby over her shoulder. Her upper body hung down Yang's back, and Blake could hear a constant stream of whining grumbles coming from her.

 _Don't look at her chest. Don't look at it. Did she jump into the water too?_

All Blake's concentration went to making sure her breathing didn't come out ragged.

"I said we're ready to go!" Giving her a lopsided grin, Yang patted Ruby's butt playfully, making her legs flail enough to almost score a hit on Blake. "Whether or not sunshine here wants to."

"I want to become a giant wrinkle," Ruby said. "That's what I want."

"Too bad. Go sit in the shower when we get home."

She flopped her legs a few more times, but not with any vigor. "That's not the same." She relaxed at last in Yang's arms, flopping over to rest limp over her shoulder. "But yeah, we probably should scoot. To the school!" With renewed energy, she broke out of Yang's hold on her and bounded to her feet. Pulling the blanket out of Blake's hands, she began marching out, not waiting to see if the others were following.

Laughing under her breath, Yang made as if to go after her, but paused when Blake didn't move, rooted to the spot. "You okay?" she asked, frowning a little.

Doing her best not to tremble, Blake let out a strained, "Fine." And forced herself to walk, stiffly, after the sisters.

But, naturally, she wasn't fine. Nothing was fine. Ruby's fingers had brushed against hers, for just a fleeting second when she grabbed the blanket. And while Ruby didn't seem to notice at all, Blake knew that her cycle was coming to a peak— she'd reacted to Ruby's touch. Any longer and Ruby would have felt it too.

 _…Well, shit._

* * *

 _Don't look._

Blake kept her eyes trained on the floor, her sandaled feet squeaking as the hot water poured over her. In the stall next to her, Yang sang a nonsense song about a huntress and her lover.

 _Don't look._

Rinsing the shampoo out of her hair as quickly as possible, she shut off the shower and wrapped her head up in a towel, concealing her faunus ears. It was hard to get dressed in the tiny stall, with only waist-high barriers and a flimsy curtain set between her and her partner, but she somehow managed to slip on her pajamas as Yang began a rousing chorus, her unlovely singing voice squawking and reverberating in the empty bathrooms.

 _Don't look._

Still staring at the floor, Blake gathered up all her things and went over to the sink. Brushing her teeth, she kept up all her normal nightly habits for the brief distraction routine provided her. But there was only so long she could go on doing that before her eyes darted up at the mirror, accidentally catching Yang's silhouette in the reflection as she danced to her own terrible song. The image was unclear, her shape obscured by the gauzy curtains, but still. She was there, naked, and dripping wet.

They were close enough emotionally that if Blake got her hands on her, for long enough? Her heat would affect her, just as it had affected Weiss earlier that week.

Her breath caught in her throat.

 _Do **not** look. You're not an animal, don't act like one!_

Slapping her cheeks with both palms, Blake shook her head, allowing her body to shiver once before she zipped out of the bathroom and ran down the hall, thinking about the book she had prepared for tonight. It was a dry historical tome detailing the lives and deaths of various faunus revolutionaries, nothing too titillating or exciting. At first she could still read her favorite sci fi novels, but as the days dragged on and her cycle didn't end, anything that got her heart pumping too fast risked lowering her self control.

Rushing down the hallway, she almost bumped into Ruby. Her team leader carried her own basket of toiletries tucked under one arm and gave her a half mocking salute as she tried to rush past her. "Heya Blake! Can I steal your conditioner puh-leeease? I ran out like, last night."

"Hey," she said, doing her best to keep her ears from jumping underneath the towel. She shifted away from her, almost imperceptibly. Any sort of extended physical contact might trigger Ruby into joining her in the land of unbearably horny teenagers, so she was suitably cautious. "Why don't you use Yang's?"

"Cause hers is gross and oily and yours smells like strawberries. Gimme," she said, hand darting out to snatch it out of her basket. Blake grit her teeth, unable to dart out the way fast enough, and Ruby's hand brushed against hers.

They both felt the heat at once, a feeling sharp and sudden as a sour violin note.

Rooted in place, Ruby's silver eyes lost their focus as she shuffled closer, stroking her arm with something akin to awe in her expression. Blake resisted the urge to purr, squinting in pleasure at the sensation and relaxing at how good it felt to be touched. "Man," Ruby said, clearing her throat. "Wow, Blake. Your skin is soooo soft. What lotion do you use? Can I borrow it too? Cause like. Wow."

There was a familiar hitch in her breathing as she gripped Blake's forearm, running her thumb along it with confusion and open longing etched on her every movement.

Suddenly afraid, Blake pulled her arm free and shoved her conditioner into Ruby's hands. Blinking in the clarity no skin contact afforded her, Ruby took a few steps back, cheeks flushed. "Sorry," she said, "I probably shouldn't have— Did I just _pet_ you? Oh god, sorry. Was that okay?"

Head swimming and entire body screaming from the simple skin contact, Blake refused to answer, running back to their empty room. Reaching their room in record time, she only had enough presence of mind to lock the door before she fell to her knees right there in front of it. Unable to make it to her bed, her skin blazed, hot and sticky from the shower. Forehead pounding from a sudden stress headache, she tried even then to hold onto her self control. It wouldn't be easy, but she could resist this if she wanted.

But to be honest, there was no point in doing that. Right now, she thought as her shaking hands pulled on the cord to her robe, a little self love might keep her from doing something else, something incredibly stupid. Stroking her stomach, she let her robe slide open, each touch like fire on her damp skin.

Each scar on her pale thighs stood out stark red, sensitive to the point of pain under her fingers. Between her legs, she found herself unbelievably slick, the curls of her pubic hair wetter than she had any right to be, even coming fresh from the shower. It didn't take long at all. Panting from exertion, she came hard, and so shamefully fast it gave her whiplash. Biting her lip, she bowed her head, twitching quietly until it was over.

The incessant clanging in her ears quieted. In the resulting silence, she could breathe again, though she knew it was only a temporary solution to her problem. If just finding an isolated place to take care of her needs by herself were enough to end this, she would have done so after Weiss left three days ago.

A deep hunger gnawed at the back of her thoughts, reminding her that it was far from gone, and that she'd only whetted its appetite. Blowing out a huge sigh, she retracted her fingers from herself, wiping the shiny residue off on her thigh. Then she re tied her robe, smoothed down her hair, and unlocked the door so that Ruby and Yang would have no trouble coming in from their shower.

Too miserable to even read anymore, Blake crawled into her bed, curling up under the covers. She stroked the silver bracelet on her wrist, the cool metal giving her something else to think about other than her own crippling desire.

* * *

The next day she woke up before her roommates, getting dressed in the dark and leaving as quietly as she could. The next few hours were spent in a tense, boiling anger as she found the most secluded part of the library and holed herself up in there, surrounded by a veritable fortress of books. She had a pile of them around her as both a physical and mental block to the world around her. At one point the librarian came by to tell her she could only have one book out at a time, and certainly couldn't play fort with them. But one wordless glare from the faunus sent her scurrying. She wasn't paid enough to deal with hormonal warrior children.

Blake settled back against the bookshelf and read, or tried to read, until the sun was high in the sky.

Predictably enough, Ruby came looking for her. She couldn't leave things alone, and probably had questions. Blake still didn't know what she would say, but she heard the familiar sound of Ruby's boots on the staircase to the second level of the library and knew she would have to say something.

Keeping focused on her book, she huddled deeper in her conspicuous book fortress, burningly aware of how stupid she looked and not caring. If the only way she could get people to leave her alone was by literally building up walls, then so be it. It was better than the alternative.

"Heya Blake," Ruby said, too cheerful for Blake's sour mood to handle.

She glared up at her, but unlike the librarian, Ruby was used to deflecting her in her more bristly moments. Taking a wide step inside her walls, she sat down next to her, careful to keep some space between them so they wouldn't touch in some idle, careless way, like their thighs brushing against each other or shoulders rubbing in a friendly nudge.

Blake didn't say anything, returning to her book.

"You know, we were supposed to go to town today. Go shopping for a present for Weiss." She lifted her hand up, showing off a bracelet similar to the one Weiss had gifted Blake.

Her ears twitched at the name, a fresh surge of pained longing throbbing in her chest. "Sorry. I'm busy today."

Glancing around at their walled enclosure, Ruby lifted one eyebrow. "…Yyyyeah, about that. Are you feeling okay? Because ever since Weiss left you've been." She squirmed in place, pulling at her collar in a sudden bout of nerves. "Tense?" she squeaked.

"I'm not feeling well."

That should have been the end of it as she pointedly turned another page of her book, sitting with her knees up to her chest in a tight ball. Even if she wasn't going to say anything, Ruby could understand her body language well enough, couldn't she? She wanted to be alone. _Needed_ to be alone.

But Ruby sighed, ran her fingers through her red streaked hair, and said, "Look, Blake, if I'm way out of line please, just stop me. But I think I know what's got you all riled up and—" She flushed, covering her face with both her hands. "And I don't mind helping you out with anything you need, you know?"

Blake looked over at her in alarm, ears pointed straight up at the ceiling.

Peeking at her between her fingers, Ruby shot her a bashful grin, cheeks still red as her namesake.

Too many thoughts bounced around, everything red hot and uncomfortable. "I'm not—" she stammered, closing her book over her thumb to keep her place. "I'm— What makes you think— I mean—" She narrowed her eyes. "...Did Weiss tell you?"

Shaking her head no, Ruby mimicked Blake's pose, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "I had two faunus friends in combat school," she said. "One was a boy and the other was a girl. And while he could feel better during your— um— special time, by just locking himself up for a weekend? The girl needed help from her friends."

But Ruby was only sixteen. Was she "helping out" her friend as early as combat school only three years earlier? Blake felt herself get heated at the thought, curse her betraying body. "I don't think you know what you're saying," she said carefully. And more importantly, "What about Yang?"

Waving her concerns aside, Ruby scoffed. "What about Yang? I do this all the time with her too!"

" _What_!" Blake couldn't help but yelp, forgetting their surroundings. They had been talking in hushed whispered, the empty library more silent than usual with most of the students gone for the holidays. They both paused, waiting for some kind of reprimand. When none came, Blake returned her attention to Ruby, hissing again, "What?" And unable to contain her curiosity, she added, "…When? How?"

She bunched her eyebrows together in confusion. "Uh. All the time? Look, it's easier if I just show you." Reaching up, Ruby braced herself before cautiously cupping her hand around the back of Blake's neck.

The reaction was immediate and intense, all her suppressed feelings roaring up in a tidal wave. But Ruby stayed where she was, so Blake didn't make a move, instead sitting still with the uncomfortable sensation that she was about to vibrate right out of her skin.

 _Wait. Right here?_ Sure, no one could see them, but it was hardly the right time or place for the kind of shenanigans her raging hormones screamed out for. Her book slid out of her nerveless fingers, page forgotten as she knelt with her spine rigid as a steel rod. Facing Ruby, she dug her fingers into her own thighs, kneading them with anxiety and eagerness. "Are you okay?" she asked hoarsely, trying not to stare and failing.

"Mmhmm." Ruby seemed a lot more composed, but her face was still red, and she had a hard time keeping eye contact with Blake's intense gaze. "Hey, you can relax a little, you know? Here." She put more pressure on the back of Blake's neck, guiding her down. Blake went meek as a kitten, resting her head on Ruby's lap with her body curled around her leader, hand carefully resting on her stockinged legs.

For her part, Ruby stroked Blake's long hair with more gentleness than Blake had ever seen her display towards anything before. She made certain to touch her skin directly, too, gritting her teeth and smiling tightly through every jolt of pleasure that shot through their bodies. Blake started squirming at all the prolonged contact, not sure if they were going to do this right here in the library but wanting to, so badly. "Ruby—" she started once, voice pleading, but Ruby shushed her.

"Just wait," she said, undoing Blake's bow to rub underneath it. Blake groaned, putting her fist to her mouth to try and bite it down, but Ruby definitely heard it. She laughed a little, averting her eyes when she found Blake staring at her again, entire face red. "J- just wait a little bit," she said again, when Blake started snuggling closer, daring to rest one hand on her stomach now, unbearably wet from the simple attention Ruby was giving her.

"For what?" Blake wanted to know, purring openly when Ruby started teasing her ears between her thumb and forefinger.

"For this to pass," Ruby said, taking Blake's hand with one of her own and squeezing it tightly, looking into her eyes again. "You need physical contact more than anything else. Once we muscle through this, the worst should be over and you won't be so miserable."

So her cure for this was just excessive snuggling? Blake bit her lower lip. Her interaction with other female faunus was almost criminally low; her mentor and protectors had all been male, and so she used the same tactics they did when they were in heat. She never had a chance to talk to other girls her own age and race about this. Did Ruby really know what she was doing? "What if it doesn't?" she asked, realizing for the first time that Ruby probably had no intention of sleeping with her. Of course not. She was obviously pining for Yang.

Old jealousy pinged at her again; she found it easier to ignore with Ruby's hands tangled up in her hair, though.

Closing her eyes, she let out a long, shuddering breath. "It's a little different than what I remember!" she agreed. "I guess it's more intense when you're older, huh?"

Asking for what she wanted wasn't in her nature. Blake put other people before herself, always. But she couldn't help herself; she reached up, pulling Ruby down by the front of her shirt and kissed her on the lips, eating up her shocked, pleased reaction. It was sweeter than kissing Weiss in every sense of the word, though not better or worse. Just different.

She stopped when Ruby made a tiny noise of protest, pulling back to look down at her with a familiar pained expression. She knew it from personal experience.

"….Uh oh," Ruby said in a strained whisper, letting go of Blake to run her hands down her face again. "Oh, jeez," she mumbled, getting redder by the minute. "Oh, no."

"Yeah," was all Blake could say. "It sucks."

"Blake," Ruby said, biting her lower lip. "I-it wasn't like this with my other faunus friend. What should we do?"

Well, there was an obvious answer to that. "…Stop?" Blake suggested with great reluctance.

To her delight, Ruby vigorously shook her head. "I said I'd help," she said, puffing up her cheeks with mock indignation and stubbornness. "And I really… really wanna help. I mean I really wanna help." Her breathing got a little harder. "Like, a lot."

Well, she couldn't be more clear than that. Headfirst into hell, then. From outside their fort, no one could see anything below Ruby's shoulders; thinking for a moment, Blake decided for them both when she took Ruby's hand, wrapping her lips around her first two fingers up to the knuckle.

Ruby's pulse jumped immediately, breath catching in her throat with excitement. Unbuttoning her shorts with one hand, Blake rolled her tongue around Ruby's fingers once more before pulling them out and easing them down the front of her pants, not breaking eye contact with Ruby.

The relief was almost instantaneous. It did take her longer to come with Ruby's fingers rather than her own, for obvious reasons— Ruby didn't know how she liked to be touched, didn't really even know where to begin. She kept curling her fingers uncomfortably against her, nails scraping against all the wrong spots until Blake growled at her to use her finger _pads_ , not her finger _nails_ , and that seemed to do the trick. But the orgasm seemed almost like an after thought to the feeling of being touched. Ruby was right. She needed a lot of physical contact. Just, contact a bit more intimate than what they had been doing before.

Pressing her face against Ruby's thigh, she bit down with the tip of her canines, a low growl escaping her throat as she closed her eyes in bliss. Ruby stopped needing so much guidance from her and started moving her hand without Blake impatiently gripping her every time she deviated from what felt good.

Tense silence filled the library; too self conscious to even breathe too loud, Blake came with a drawn out purr, sounding more like a feral sigh from her parted lips.

"Stop, stop, stop, stop," she said under her breath, laughing when Ruby didn't realize she had finished, hand still moving under Blake's pants. Exhausted and satisfied at last, she laid heavily on her lap, letting Ruby stroke her hair as she cooled down.

"Feel better?" Ruby asked with just a hint of wickedness in her voice, and they giggled over that for a bit. When Blake tried to return the favor, nuzzling in closer between her legs to trail her tongue up along the inside of Ruby's thigh, she jolted away and insisted that she was fine. "Maybe not here, if that's gonna happen," Ruby said, angling Blake off of her to stand up. "First let's clean up your mess, missy."

The fort wasn't small, but two of them working together got it done in record time. And it was amazing how clear headed she felt— all her whirling emotions had finally settled, and she felt more like her own self again. Ruby had seemed to enjoy it too, so why had she resisted this for so long? Maybe she should have gone all the way when Weiss was still here.

Actually, she felt better than her old self. She felt giddy. After putting away the last of the books, Ruby let her kiss her again, a peck on the cheek. No familiar bolt of electricity ran through her at the simple touch, just a warm buzz.

It wasn't until they made it back to their room that the guilt set in.

While Ruby texted Yang to find out where she was, Blake sat on the edge of her bed, watching her with a pinched, nervous expression. "If you want to pretend that never happened, I'll understand," she said, the afterglow wearing off at last.

"Hmm?" Ruby looked up from her scroll with a smile. "Why, was it bad? Sorry, I guess I'm not…" she brought her hand up to eye level, examining her own fingers critically. "Well I guess I just need practice or something, since that was like my first time."

Blake blanched. _Oh, god. I'm a predator._ But instead she brought up more pertinent information rather than her own questionable hormonal effect on her friends— "No, it wasn't bad. It was great. But again… What about Yang?"

Pausing mid-text, Ruby stared blankly at her friend for a few seconds before shrugging lightly and returning to her message.

Ruby responded the same way she had before. "What about Yang? You're her partner, right, not her girlfriend?"

Uncertainly, Blake nodded.

"Great. I do understand we need to be open as a team, though, so yeah, we'll have to tell her what we did and why." Her scroll buzzed as she finished the message and pocketed it. "I'm sure she'll understand, Yang's really cool about stuff like this, I think. But you don't have to worry about her being overprotective of me or anything."

 _These_ two.

That wasn't what she meant and Ruby knew it. Eyeballing her with open skepticism, Blake figured she'd pushed her luck far enough as it was, and kept quiet. She rolled onto her bed, pulling the blankets around her with a sigh. "All right." After a long pause, she looked over her shoulder at Ruby, who was responding again to a new message from Yang. "…You're being really cool about this, too," she said.

Her team leader thought about it, lower lip caught between her lip as she contemplated the ceiling. "Hmm," she said, "I don't know. I feel like maybe I should be freaking out, but it's like a tiny voice in the back of my head. Whatever else your heat thing does to your partners, it also chills them out a lot." She gestured widely to demonstrate how much. "Like, a lot a lot. And I had this really bad back ache before I went to go find you in the library?" Her hands flared open. "Gone now. I feel like I can run a mile."

That made her crack a smile. "I've been told by older faunus it can do that, yeah. But I've never actually… you know."

"Well," Ruby said, "As team leader, I'm glad I managed to form a stronger bond between us—" she laughed and ducked as Blake tossed a pillow her way. "What? It's my duty as leader to put you first!"

Yang arrived in time to find them wrestling on the floor, Ruby calling out "Uncle, uncle!" as Blake ruthlessly tickled her sides. All the tension had drained between them, and they could touch each other normally again.


	3. Chapter 3

She meant to discuss things after that. Sit down with Ruby somewhere private so they could hammer out the details. What were they now? Was this a one time thing? How do they tell Yang? Or Weiss? Ruby seemed to understand that this didn't mean they were dating now, but it also didn't mean they _couldn't_ date if they wanted to. If they even wanted to.

….Oh, this was confusing.

Before Blake knew it, Yang had showed up and they took a ride down to Vale. They wasted their whole afternoon away, enjoying the last few days of freedom they had before the beginning of the next semester. The persistent aching in her bones had finally dissipated; she could hold Ruby's hand without incident, even. Always free with affection, Ruby would often take her by the arm and drag her where she wanted to go like a dog with a very short leash, or clung with their elbows linked and Ruby half dangling off her as she chattered away about whatever was on her mind. It was common enough behavior that Yang didn't even raise an eyebrow.

It was so good to be around them— just be with them, her friends, no screaming need consuming her every thought— that the hours slipped away and soon they were ambling back home, darkness falling down on them, soothing as a warm blanket around their shoulders.

Yang fell asleep first, of course. That was how things usually went. Weiss would have been next. Then if she found she couldn't sleep, Blake would peer out from her bunk and check up on the other side of the room. If she saw the bobbing light of a moving lamp from behind Ruby's canopy, she'd climb up and they'd talk or read until they passed out.

But when she moved to do just that, Blake paused at the edge of Weiss' empty bunk. Doubt plagued her, every action she wanted to take suddenly second-guessed. Could she really just go up there and pretend things were exactly the way they had always been?

Book clenched tightly in her hand, she stood there, frozen with indecision until one edge of the canopy flicked open, the light inside spilling out. Ruby's head popped over the side of the bunk, eyebrows raised. "Hey," she said, "You know I can feel your aura when you stand there and stare at me like a big weirdo, right?"

She did know. Or, well, she _should_ have known. It was sometimes hard to remember that she was in an environment full of people trained just like her. "Sorry," she said, holding her book to her chest. She made sure to keep her ears still. "I was just wondering if I should come up or not."

"You're overthinking things."

Ruby opened the canopy wider, inviting her in.

Grinning hugely, Blake clambered up next to her. Once she was there, she meant to just sprawl out over the nest of blankets like she normally did. But instead she found herself throwing her arms around Ruby's shoulders to hold her tightly, not really knowing why. Blake had spent so many years calculating and monitoring each movement she made, from the flex of her ankles to the faintest twitch in her ears. Just doing this felt strange. Even when Ruby relaxed and held her tighter in return, arms cinched around Blake's waist and head nestled in the hollow of her shoulder.

Fortunately, Ruby seemed delighted by it. "Aw, you're so snuggly! Is it because of... the thing? Are you at least feeling better than you did this morning?" she asked, stroking her back in a soothing gesture. Blake nodded. "Cool. Glad to know you're back on track to normal."

Blake didn't answer, sighing heavily against the top of Ruby's head. Both of them kneeling and facing each other, she could feel most of Ruby's body pressed up close against hers. It brought her to a strange place, teetering the line between affection and want. She enjoyed being close to Ruby for its own sake, but she knew her heat cycle wasn't over. That roaring need threatened to spill out again at any moment, without warning.

But maybe Ruby was right. Maybe she was overthinking things. She gave Ruby a tighter squeeze, leaning forward and putting all her weight on her so that they flopped over. Ruby made a small "oof!" noise when her back hit the mattress. The redhead laughed when Blake made it clear she had no intention of moving any time soon; making herself comfortable, Ruby propped her book up on Blake's back, reading over her head.

Resting her cheek on Ruby's chest, she allowed herself to purr, feeling limp and happy for the first time in a long time.

She let herself be happy until she fell asleep listening to the sound of Ruby breathing. The occasional snore from Yang across the room. The faint rasp of paper whenever Ruby turned another page.

* * *

Sunlight screamed into her eyes when someone rudely yanked open the canopy. She very nearly yowled, bolting straight up and throwing her forearm across her eyes to block out the sudden glare. Ruby was tangled up in her still, legs and arms twisted around Blake in cuddly knots.

"Up and at em, soldiers!" Yang shouted, gleefully ignoring their loud protests. Yang hung halfway off the bed, her lower half dangling over the edge. Blake saw her wiggle slightly in place, a sure sign that beneath their line of vision she was paddling her legs back and forth like a kid at the pool. "Two more days till end of break and Weiss comes home and then we have to do classes and gross stuff! Up up up! We still got to get her a gift and enjoy our last look at the outside world before we get shuttered up here again for another six months with shitty curfews and mouth breathing hall monitors! Up!" Bouncing down, she kicked the bed frame as light as she could. It still rocked dangerously. " _Up_!"

Snarling, Blake pulled the sheets back over her eyes. She formed a lump on the bed, curled up and grumbling low under her breath. "Bug off. It's too early."

"Well aren't you just a ray of sunshine today, kitty?"

Blake ignored the jab, rolling further away from Yang. She dragged the rest of the blankets with her, pinning Ruby down again and keeping her from escaping. Hidden under the swaths of fabric, she couldn't help but feel how Ruby's camisole had ridden up in the night, bare stomach smooth and soft under her hand as she stroked it idly, free from prying eyes. She knew it was the heat affecting her, but she couldn't deny how good every casual touch felt. There were too many knots and tangles in the sheets to see her expression, but Ruby made a choked noise at the unexpected contact.

"Mm—!" She tried to play it off as a cough. "—Mhem, ahem, hum. I'll be uh, I'll be right down in a second, sis," she said, hand worming between them to find Blake's side and pinch her in retribution.

Blake squeaked, slapping her hands away. All thoughts of being discreet now washed away, they started scrabbling at each other in a mock fight. Any desire to go back to sleep abandoned them in fits of shrieking laughter, the bed swinging on its rope constraints to bump against the wall every so often.

Laughing, Yang hung from the bedframe again, supporting her weight with one arm while the other reached in— to yank them apart, or knock their heads together, Blake didn't know, because the instant she felt that firm grip on the back of her skull, it happened again.

A jolt of pleasure ran through her, sharp and stabbing like a needle straight into her brain.

Yang yelped, startled enough to let go and fall off the edge of the bed onto the floor. Like an electric current had passed between them, blasting her away.

Getting up to her feet and standing too stiff for comfort, Yang retreated as fast as she could, hand reaching blindly behind her as she backed away.

"Yang—" Blake started, face on fire. "Wait, don't— I actually uh, I have something I kind of forgot to tell you—?"

She seemed ready to jump out of her skin at the sound of Blake's voice, the muscles in her arms twitching faintly. "What? Tell me something? Yeah! That's okay!" Yang said, far too loud. Red creeped up into her cheeks, her hair frizzling up from the sudden static heat of her semblance acting up. She fiddled with the doorknob, rattling it until she managed to get it open. "That's totally okay! But can it wait for a bit? I uh, I gotta go do something I forgot! See you guys in the city later okay? Okay. Bye."

The door slammed shut.

Blake buried her face in her hands.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Of course it'd been too much to hope that Yang continued to remain unaffected while her other two friends had gotten hopelessly sucked in. It was only a matter of time, really.

"Great," she said, rubbing her temples. "Great." _This_ is why she wanted to stay alone for two weeks. "Now how are we supposed to tell her?"

No response. Puzzled, Blake glanced over her shoulder to see Ruby squished up on the corner of the bed furthest from Blake. Staring at her with a huge frown, she pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them, visibly distressed.

"…Ruby?" Blake cautiously reached.

"If you don't want to have sex again then you need to leave like right now," Ruby blurted out in a rushed whisper, pupils blown so wide her iris seemed like nothing but a thin streak of gray around them. Sitting stock still, she kept her arms wrapped tight around her knees, fists clutching onto the fabric of her pants as she tried to keep herself from moving. "Because I think that heat thing is working extra hard today or something."

Making a small noise of sympathy deep in her throat, Blake pulled Ruby back into her arms at once. She fit perfectly on Blake's lap, like she was built for it. Wrapping her legs around Blake's waist to squeeze as close to her as possible, her small body trembled from the effort of keeping control until Blake kissed her.

For whatever reason, the overwhelming need that should have speared through her at the contact, didn't— if anything, it looked like Ruby was the one in heat. "Are you okay?" she asked her, holding her face in both hands to look her in the eyes. She stroked her thumbs along Ruby's cheek, keeping her close as possible to alleviate some of the symptoms.

Too blissed out to respond at first, Ruby's neck turned into jelly, leaning into Blake's touch and letting her support her. She sighed, closing her eyes and trying to sink into the feeling of skin against skin. "Just as long as you don't stop," she said, "That. Whatever that is."

"I'll try," Blake responded, though her dry tone was lost on her leader.

"Nnnn." Collapsing forward, Ruby snuggled into Blake's body, holding onto her for dear life. "Okay. I can think now. I think." She turned her head to the side, kissing Blake on the neck. "Okay. Yang."

"Yang."

"I'll text her telling her you're in heat. And that you just need to kiss a bit to get over it."

Blake pulled back. "You can't text her that! Then she'll think we're in here making out!"

"Well…" Twisting her lips in an uncertain frown, Ruby's eyebrows tilted up plaintively. "…Aren't we?"

Thinking about it for a second, Blake's lips twitched in a barely suppressed grin. Then she leaned forward, kissing Ruby all over her face.

* * *

 **So you're in heat.**

 _Yes._

 **And you're banging my sister.**

 _No._ Blake paused, fingers hovering over the scroll. _Well, once. It was an accident, I don't think it's going to happen again._

 **Incredible. Absolutely incredible. And when were you two going to tell me? And what the hell am I gonna tell Weiss?**

 _Weiss already knows, sort of._

The response was immediate. **Did you bang Weiss too?!**

 _What? No! God, Yang, I can control myself!_

 **WELL I'M JUST SAYING, IT FEELS A LOT LIKE EVERYBODY GOT TO KISS MY PARTNER EXCEPT ME**

 _How do you know I kissed Weiss?_

 **Because I have a magic kissing sensor.**

 **Because she told me, dumb dumb! How else do you think?**

 _I just thought maybe it would pass if I kept to myself._

 _I'm sorry._

 _I didn't mean to lie or mislead you or anything like that._

 _You two staying behind wasn't a part of the plan._

 **It's fine. I'm just a little weirded out. I need a little time alone, all right?**

Blake texted back _all right_ but Yang never responded in turn.

* * *

By the time Yang came back, it was well past midnight. She smelled like the city, dirt crowded in with other people's scents. Her daytime journey rolled off her, waking Blake from her sleep. A coffeeshop and possibly a bar, bitter and sharp, those places clinging to her sleeves as she got undressed in the dark below their bunk.

Blake and Ruby had not, in fact, spent the whole day canoodling in bed, though it was a close thing. But they wound up sleeping in the same bunk again, half out of old habits and half because Blake still felt a low, constant need to be touched.

Waiting until she was sure Yang had finished changing, Blake spoke under her breath, just loud enough to be heard.

"Are you mad at us?"

Yang didn't answer at first, making a small surprised noise. She probably hadn't expected either of them to still be awake. Ruby wasn't— snuggled tight into her arms, twitching faintly in her sleep.

"No," Yang said.

Relief bloomed inside her, even if tendrils of doubt had taken root deep inside her chest. Yang wasn't the sort of person to lie about her feelings, but still, she sensed the whole truth was being withheld. Not that she was about to start prying. "We're not dating, you know. It's a little different for faunus," she said. "But I won't date her if it would make you mad."

"It won't," her partner said, tone flat. "I told her to do it."

She had been stroking the top of Ruby's head, still finding a deep sense of peace in the simple joy of touching her. But at Yang's words, she froze. "What?"

"I told her to do it. To find a girlfriend, or a boyfriend, or something." Another pause. "I didn't think she'd actually do it, though. She never listens to me."

"Well." Blake resumed running her fingers through Ruby's hair, easing through any tangles she found. "I really don't think that's changed, if it's any consolation. Ruby and I are still only just friends. Like I said."

"I dunno, Blake," Yang said, lifting herself up to their bunk. The frame swung lightly on its ropes, groaning dangerously under their combined weight. "I don't know how you do it, but I generally don't have sex with my friends."

Turning her head to look over her shoulder at the brawler, Blake's brows furrowed in confusion. "Yang?"

"Scoot over," Yang said, shuffling so that she was under the blankets as well. "I want in on this snuggle party."

She laughed, shortly, and then her chest rumbled with a long, low purr to feel Yang's arms wrap around her waist. Her partner held her bone-crushingly tight for a split second before relaxing, forehead pressed against the center of Blake's shoulders.

* * *

Upon discovering what had transpired the night before, Ruby was furious.

"You two snuggled without me?" she demanded, peering over the edge of her mattress at her team mates. Hereyes narrowed in anger, bed hair clinging and sticking out every which way. Yang and Blake had already woken up and were halfway dressed, not at all moved by their leader's consternation.

Blake exchanged a glance with her partner before Yang stated the obvious. "Without you? What do you mean, without you?" She pulled on her boot. "You were literally there the whole time."

She vaulted over the edge of the bed, landing heavily in front of them. Setting her arms straight at her side, Ruby stamped her foot. "I was unconscious when the alleged snuggles took place! It doesn't count! I demand a redo."

"Okay, okay," Blake relented, gripping her by the back of the neck and pulling her forward to kiss the top of her head. "We can throw another snuggle party tonight, if you really need one."

"Of course I need one! _Gosh_!"

Still fussing under her breath, Ruby marched out of the room to go take a shower.

Blake just shook her head. "Jealous children."

"I don't know what she's complaining about," Yang agreed, "She gets Blake snuggles every day, pretty much."

"I didn't realize that bothered you so much." Blake shot her a glance.

Yang was a little too quick to reassure her otherwise. "It doesn't."

The faunus rolled her eyes.

 _These_ two.


	4. Chapter 4

How did this happen?

Arms wrapped tight around Ruby's waist, Blake pulled her closer to kiss the nape of her neck. Purring deeply, she slipped her hand up the front of her shirt, helping her pull it up over her head. Hands free to knead at her chest, she nuzzled her head between Ruby's shoulder blades, spooning her gently, purring harder at how every stray touch made her squeak and twitch.

"This could be a really bad idea," she warned, though without any measure of conviction. It just felt wrong not to at least try to acknowledge it.

"Nah," Yang said, giving her forearm a squeeze. "You're just overthinking things."

Right.

So how did this happen, again?

* * *

The three of them had put their heads together to come up with a gift for Weiss. Blake was the one who suggested a matching jewelry piece, since Weiss had gifted them all earrings, necklaces, and a bracelet. Yang supplied the raw silver and the ornaments, knowing the right people in town to get the base material for the gift.

And Ruby, with her young genius and her expertise with delicate construction, put it together.

Safe behind the locked doors of the forge room, Blake allowed her ears to prick forward in interest as she leaned over Ruby's shoulder, watching her work.

"Quit hovering," their leader groused, only once, and both the other girls stepped back to give her space.

"I'm just curious," Yang said, one hand idly fluffing up her long mane. It was still damp from their shower this morning, the texturizer she had sprayed in needing the occasional rumple to get that perfectly tousled appearance.

"I'm working with pliers and teeny tiny little gemstones, Yang, I need space or I'll get shoulder anxiety."

Like having a professor stand next to you during an exam. Blake understood. But the Aura-powered tools Ruby was using were still fascinating enough that she found herself drawing closer again, too curious to mind her manners. They were sophisticated, powerful, not like the raw Dust manipulators and welding torches that had marked Blake's childhood, building Gambol Shroud from whatever was at hand.

The strands of silver were supple as silk underneath Ruby's hands as she exhaled, slowly, focusing her Aura through the tools the way they channeled it into their weapons during combat. "Just give me thirty more minutes and it'll be done," she said.

Yang slung an arm around Blake's shoulder, both of them still craning to peek over Ruby's head to see what she was doing. Blake liked the contact, liked the way it felt to touch people she cared about. The heat simmered just underneath her skin, but it wasn't uncomfortable. And if Yang was bothered by it, she didn't say a word.

After a final spark, Ruby twisted in her seat, beckoning to Blake. "Try this on for me. Your wrist is about the same size as Weiss's."

She extended her hand and nodded. Ruby fastened the chain securely around Blake's hand. "Try waving your hand around a little and make sure it doesn't go flying off?" When that worked, she took Blake by the palm and gripped her hand tightly, shaking it up and down to test it further.

When the bracelet stayed put, she linked their fingers together and stood up, lifting their hands up in victory. "Huzzah! We did it!" She let their hands fall, still locked together. "Now all we gotta do is wait for Weiss to come home."

Beads of sweat formed on Ruby's forehead, from concentration or the heat of the tools, Blake couldn't tell. But she also couldn't resist the urge to wipe it from her brow, and tuck a stray lock of wild red hair behind one ear. The heat surged up between them, more insistent than it did with Yang.

Almost imperceptibly, their grip on each other's hands tightened, open want turning Ruby's bright eyes just a shade darker.

"Just kiss already," Yang said, after a small noise of joking disgust.

That made them jump apart. Letting go of Blake to cross her arms, Ruby turned her head aside, pouting. "What? No way."

Yang's laughter was low and warm; she shook her head. "It's not like you two haven't done it already."

The blood rushed to her face. Ruby pulled her hood over her head, holding the hem down so that it nearly covered her down past her chin. "Noooo, Yang! I'm not gonna kiss her in front of you. Don't be weird!"

"Don't be _ungrateful_ ," Yang countered, pinching the end of her hood to drag it down even further. "There's starving Yangs in Beacon who don't get _any_ Blake kisses at _all_."

Ruby just screeched, under her breath, and zipped straight out of the room. She could be heard rapidly opening and closing at least two doors on her way out of the craft shops, a stream of rose petals left in her wake.

"Where'd she go?" Blake wondered, catching a petal between two fingers as it fluttered towards her. She watched it dissolve into dust, crumbling away into a fine gritty texture.

Yang shrugged. "Oh, who knows? She'll get over it when she remembers she likes us." Fluffing up her hair again, Yang started making herself busy, cleaning up after Ruby's mess. There were still tools and scrap designs left over from her work, and they needed to leave the area the way they had found it or they'd lose crafting room privileges.

"What a little brat," she murmured, without any hostility at all.

"You're still gonna clean it up, though."

Tossing the scraps away, Yang grinned back at Blake. "Well, of course."

"Even though she gets Blake kisses and you don't?"

"Well…" Yang started washing her hands, back turned to the faunus. "Hey, I'm upset I didn't get a chance, but that's just how the cookie crumbles."

 _Be cool, Blake. In for a penny, in for a pound. Full throttle. You're already here. Just do it. Just say it!_

Cracking her knuckles and her wrists, Blake started wishing there was more of a mess to clean up in the room, if only for something to do with her hands. But Yang had already tidied up the place neatly and was waiting by the door, expectant. "You comin', Blake?"

"I mean, I'd like to," Blake mused out loud, before realizing how that came out.

Yang's eyebrows shot straight up.

"Kiss you!" Blake clarified, waving her hands frantically. "I'd like to kiss you, if that's still something you'd like to try!"

Her partner stared at her, still speechless.

She swallowed a knot in her throat. "I mean, I don't normally want that, so if you're waiting for a chance, now would be it. After my heat is over I'm going to go back not to wanting that."

Still, Yang didn't respond, averting her eyes. Guilt? Embarrassment? Blake couldn't place it, and a color rose in her cheeks. "Well, then, let's pretend I didn't say that and I can die of shame somewhere else."

Yang found her voice at last. "Oh!" she said, but then nothing else, until Blake waited, and then, "Oh." She gathered up her hair in both hands, draping it over her shoulder as her hands began worrying through the tangles. She didn't seem to know where to land her eyes, staring up at the ceiling or across the room or at the toes of her boots, anywhere but Blake. "But you wouldn't… it's not just because I whined too much about it, right?"

Blake resolutely shook her head no. "The first thing I thought when Weiss triggered my heat was why her, and not you?"

Her pleased grin lit up the whole room. "What? Really?!"

"Really. It left me feeling off-center for a while– just didn't make sense."

Visibly puffing up with pride, Yang stopped making nervous motions with her hands. She crossed her arms, still grinning from ear to ear. "So I… I seem like a more kissable person than Weiss, huh?" she said, looking way too proud of herself.

Shaking her head, Blake just laughed under her breath.

"I'm gonna take that as a yes." She pumped a fist at her side, hissing out again, " _Yesssssssssss_. Suck it, Weiss."

Some of the shyness had melted away by Yang's sunny enthusiasm. Walking past her, Blake laughed again. "Well, if it was just your ego that needed soothing, let's be on our way."

"What? No!" Catching her by the waist, Yang held her in her spot. "I really do want to kiss you though, for real! I do! If it's okay with you?"

The rasp of Yang's calloused palms on her bare midriff made it hard to respond properly. Dizzy with the sudden burst of desire, Blake realized Yang was still waiting on her. "Yeah…" Blake said, and felt Yang hold her tight against her own body.

If possible, her smile grew even brighter. "Yeah?"

Holding onto her shoulders to ground herself, Blake tried to make sure she wouldn't miss. Kissing her was different. Yang was so tall. So unlike kissing Ruby or Weiss. Her partner pulled Blake closer, encouraging her with one hand on her chin, to tilt it up at the right angle. Even then she needs to reach, the tips of her toes almost enough before Yang leans down, and kissed her gently on the lips.

Blake expected Yang to be fire. The first kiss with Weiss had been exhilarating, fueled by tension and feverish need, and Ruby had been sweet as black licorice. But Yang spread like a warm pool of water, rippling out from head to toe.

Parting slowly, Yang met her gaze with a nervous smile, cheeks pink from heat and their closeness to the forge.

"Wow," Blake said.

"You're telling me." She tilted her head to the side. "Can we–?"

Blake jumped at the chance– literally, forcing Yang to catch her around the waist again to hold her up until they were at the same eye level. Her arms didn't tremble at all from the exertion, keeping Blake's feet off the floor with complete ease as the faunus kissed her again.

"I squish the Blake," Yang mumbled happily, locking her arms around Blake and doing just that, and saying, "Squiiiish!" until Blake was laughing too hard to kiss her any more.

* * *

Back in their room, Yang sprawled out onto Blake's bed, her scroll held over her face. "Eat… my… dust… Weiss…" Yang said, reading her text out loud as she typed it and smugly hit 'send'. Pocketing her scroll, she wriggled on the bed, doing a small happy dance. "So now are we gonna get a nice box for her present, or are we just gonna give it to her as is?"

Blake licked her lip in thought. She meandered closer to Yang, keeping a careful distance to avoid triggering the heat again. "Could always reuse the same box she gave me mine in."

"Genius!" Yang gestured at her, winking and making double pistols. "And no extra money spent, so even better."

Her scroll buzzed with an incoming text. Laughing darkly, Yang pulled it out, probably expecting a long angry lecture from Weiss. "Aww."

"What?"

"It's Ruby, not ice queen." She scowled, pocketing the scroll again. "What's the point of gloating if she doesn't even get all riled up! Honestly. What's she got going on at home that she's taking so long to text me back?"

"She's got a life, Yang."

"Yeah, well, it should revolve around me more."

Blake rolled her eyes. "What'd Ruby want?"

"To know if we had dinner already, or if we could all go out somewhere."

The faunus reclined against the bedpost, humming in thought. "Would be better if we waited for Weiss, so we can celebrate together?"

Yang clapped her hands, this time giving Blake a double thumbs up before quickly texting Ruby. "We'll get noodles," she sang. "And give Weiss her present. Great thinking, Blake."

"I try."

Blake listened to her giggle, feeling affection for her bloom deep in her chest. Kissing her seemed to have settled her jealousy, smoothing them back to their relationship before the heat had plagued her. It felt good to hear Yang laugh again. "And where is our fearless leader, anyway?"

"Mmm. Out getting flowers, she said. She's going to braid them into a little crown and force Weiss to wear it when she comes back."

That made Blake blink. "That's absurdly cute."

Squealing, Yang held her scroll close to her chest. "I know."

They spent the rest of the day relaxing, occasionally discussing their schedules for the upcoming semester, but mostly keeping to themselves. Swapping beds was second nature by now; Blake would just clamber up top by habit sometimes, forcing Yang to keep the other. That was assuming Blake wasn't cuddling in bed with Ruby, of course.

But somewhere along the way she fell asleep, and didn't even realize it until she heard the door unlocking.

Instantly alert, she tensed up, waiting to see who it was. She knew instinctively that it was night time, that she was starting to come down from her heat and the resulting sleepiness was just her body catching up with her after so much excitement.

The scent of rose petals hit her after a moment, and she relaxed, listening to the sound of Ruby's boots on the carpet. The girl quietly set her things aside, getting dressed in the dark.

"Welcome home, Ruby," Yang said in the bunk below, and Blake heard Ruby's motions go still.

"You and Blake swap bunks again?" she asked. There was a creak of springs, and fabric rustling. Ruby's voice grew closer as well; probably snuggling in next to Yang. "I thought we were all gonna cuddle tonight."

"Didn't wanna wake her."

Their leader made a small noise of agreement. The fabric rumpled again, and then the unmistakable click of lips parting; a quiet kiss. Then there was silence, even breathing. Lulled back into sleepiness, Blake was nearly under again when she heard Ruby's voice, subdued and very small.

"I got hurt out there."

"What?" the mattress squeaked. "What do you mean?"

"It's nothing, just– I didn't want you to see it later and freak out."

But Yang wasn't responding. Concerned now, Blake peered over the edge of the mattress to see they had both stood up. In the dark, she saw Yang's hands dart down, unbuttoning Ruby's pajamas. "Wh–" Ruby flinched, trying to wriggle away. "Hey! What are you doing?"

"So _that's_ what this is," Yang said with bitter disappointment. Her nails scraped over something thick, raspy. "I wasn't gonna ask, but…"

Ruby turned her back on Yang. For a second Blake saw what had gotten Yang so flustered. A row of bandages were wrapped around Ruby's chest, one of them already bleeding through.

"Ppbbt." Ruby blew a raspberry. "It was only three Grimm, Yang. I had to go a little bit outside the walls for some fresh air, and to find the right kinda flowers. I wasn't in any danger."

Though they tried to be quiet, it became increasingly evident they were on the verge of an argument.

"When was the last time you changed those bandages?" Yang asked. "Did you put ointment on it? Ruby, what if it gets infected?"

Ruby's offended grumbles resounded through the air, and with how loud Yang started at her, Blake thought it was appropriate to let the two of them know she was awake. Slipping out of bed, she dropped over the side and landed right at Ruby's feet.

"Ruby," Blake said, after putting a hand on her shoulders to steady her. "Let me see that."

Thought startled, Ruby started buttoning up her shirt again, looking rankled by this development. "It's really not a big deal, guys."

Blake just gave her a judgment-heavy stare.

She blew out a heavy breath between pursed lips. "Okay, okay, I'll go change it! Jeez, you two really are the worst."

"Be grateful Weiss isn't here," Blake said. When Ruby shrugged out of her shirt, Blake helped her unravel the binding, hissing in sympathy at the deep gouges on her chest. "She might have forced you to go get stitches."

Despite the situation, that made Yang laugh. "Ha! Remember the time she was convinced I had a concussion?"

Blake touched the flesh around the wound. It wasn't warm, and already seemed to be scabbing over, but still…

"Go wash up and take care of that," she said, and Ruby went to the bathroom with only minimal complaint. She perched on the edge of the bottom mattress, watching her until she left. Seeing that Yang was still visibly distressed, she waved her over. "And you, stop it. If it doesn't get better in the morning, we'll see a doctor. Even if we have to drag her."

"Hrnnnn." Stomping one foot, Yang paced from the door to the bed. "She always does this. Tries lone wolfing it. You'd think by now she'd know better!"

Blake was worried, too– mainly guilty, since Ruby had left because of her teasing earlier that morning. "We'll deal with it."

"Well, obviously. But I wish she'd just let me take care of her!" She ran a hand through her hair, stopping her pacing just to stand by the door and wait. "Dad told me I had to protect her but she won't let me."

"She does," Blake pointed out. "You do."

Yang snorted, suddenly bitter. "I can't even protect her from myself."

She had a feeling Yang hadn't meant to say that last part out loud.

But their conversation was cut short, Ruby returning sheepishly with fresh bandages, her hair damp from a shower and wearing a more airy top. "Here," she said, plopping back down onto the bed. "Happy?"

"Very," Blake said, pulling her down into her arms. Ruby fell forward, half sprawled on her lap, and kissed her briefly. "You know we only do it because we care, Ruby."

The way Ruby grumbled actually set more ease back into Blake than anything else. "Then I guess I can find it in my heart to forgive you, too." She sniffed. "For snuggling Yang without me."

"Man," Yang spoke up, walking over to shove the pair of them down onto the bed. "Then you're gonna be _super_ pissed when you learn I kissed her without you, too."

Ruby let out an affronted noise; Blake tightened her grip on their leader and rolled over, dragging her further onto the bed. Struggling to break free, Ruby wouldn't settle down until Yang joined them, comfortably squeezing in so that they all fit onto the limited space. "You're the worst," Ruby kept saying, "The absolute worst."

Yang just responded by holding her tight, bowing her head down to kiss her on her forehead.

But when her lips touched bare skin, a familiar jolt ran through Ruby, startling them all into complete silence.

"Oh!" Yang said, pulling away, but not removing her hands. "That– that happened."

The back of Ruby's neck steadily turned red, traveling down to her shoulders. The pressure built, Ruby's body tensing up between the two of them.

So Blake did the only thing she could think of, butting her head between Ruby's shoulder blades and purring loudly enough that both of them could hear her. Struck by the absurdity of it, Ruby started laughing, hiding her face in Yang's shoulder and shaking with mirth.

Yang stared at Blake over her sister's head, eyes wide. "Why is Ruby giving me the heat thing too?"

"Because you like her," Blake said, reaching up to stroke Ruby's bare shoulder, down her arms, to soothe her. Ruby writhed under the touch, snuggling closer to Yang. "Ah, uh… a lot."

"If you don't want to, you shouldn't– you shouldn't–" Ruby said, arms coiling up around Yang's neck. "Yang–" she looked up, about to say something else, but it came out as a shocked moan when Yang dared to touch her as well, a single stroke along her belly. Her shirt hitched up when she moved, giving Yang more room to touch as she squirmed between them.

"That feels really good," Yang murmured, carefully making her way around the bandages to palm Ruby's chest. "Right?"

She gasped, lips parted as she pressed her hips closer to Yang's seeking friction. "Y-Yang– I– I really want to– if you don't want to– with Blake here– but I need–"

She couldn't even fragment a sentence together properly, her voice growing desperate as she met Yang's eyes in a half-lidded stare, visibly straining to resist. So Blake reached around her and gently cupped a hand behind Yang's skull, pulling her down the few centimeters distance needed for them to kiss.

It was like opening a floodgate. Mindful of Ruby's injury, Yang pulled her as close as she could, greedily hooking a leg over hers to keep her in place. Blake wasn't sure they had ever kissed like this, if they had ever let it get that far, but it was obviously a lot of pent up energy that had just exploded out all at once.

Arms wrapped tight around Ruby's waist, Blake pulled her closer to kiss the nape of her neck. Purring deeply, she slipped her hand up the front of her shirt, helping her pull it up over her head. Hands free to knead at her chest, she nuzzled her head between Ruby's shoulder blades, spooning her gently, purring harder at how every stray touch made her squeak and twitch.

"This could be a really bad idea," she warned, though without any measure of conviction. It just felt wrong not to at least try to acknowledge it.

"Nah," Yang said, giving her forearm a squeeze. "You're just overthinking things."

Ruby agreed, reaching behind her to find Blake's head, the fine velvet of her secondary ears. Blake purred again, open mouthed, fingers inching down past the waistband of Ruby's pants. "Okay," she murmured, teeth scraping over Ruby's ear.

That got Ruby's attention, a half-protest making Blake pause for a moment. "Wait! But Blake's the one in heat, shouldn't we–"

Yang silenced her with another hungry kiss.

"Thanks, Yang," Blake said, easing down Ruby's pants again. "Just let us take care of you for a bit."

"I-if this is how you guys respond every time I get injured…" Ruby started, only just barely managing to bite back a moan when Blake's fingers spread her apart, gentle and careful as she explored her.

"She's already wet, Yang," Blake said into Ruby's ear, pushing her fingers in deeper to find her entrance. Not penetrating her yet, she found the area just around it to be more sensitive, and before too long her fingers were slick up to the first knuckle.

"Yeah?" Yang asked quietly, brushing the back of her hand over Ruby's lower belly. She let out a soft breath, going lower as slow as she could, projecting her destination so either of the other two would have a chance to say something about it. But they didn't, and in a moment she had joined Blake between Ruby's legs.

Sweat collected on the back of Ruby's neck; Blake kissed it away, letting Yang plunder her mouth with kisses. Yang pried Ruby's legs open with a knee, giving them both room to touch, every so often stroking wet fingers across each other to feel the heat before returning to Ruby. "Do you want anything?" Blake asked her, and she quickly shook her head no. "Tell me if it feels bad, then."

Slow and sensual, she penetrated her with two fingers. Her thumb instinctively tried to reach up to rub Ruby's budding clit, but it was an awkward angle and besides, Yang seemed to be handling that part well on her own. She could sense the shifting of power, Yang's wrist flexing out of sync with her own until they found a perfect rhythm together.

She felt it when Ruby was about to come, the walls around her clenching tight as the girl started to rise in volume, coming with a startled, "Oh– _God_ –" until suddenly, she couldn't speak at all, just rock her hips back and forth, caught between strong arms. Yang withdrew first, quickly sucking her fingers clean before flopping on top of Ruby, snuggling as close as she could and covering her with kisses.

Blake pressed her head to the center of Ruby's back, listening to her heartbeat race out of control until it petered out, slowing down to a normal pattern. It was soothing, beyond comforting, to hear her breathe and sigh, the wet noises of her lips as she kissed Yang.

What woke Blake up was the alarm clock, reminding them that they had to start getting used to the early hours again before school started. Blinking away her grogginess, she found the other two still tangled up in each other, half naked.

"Buhh," Blake said. "Someone turn that off."

"You do it," Yang muttered, "Sleepyhead."

"You're closest to the clock," Ruby whined, prodding Yang until she reluctantly rolled away and slammed a fist over the beeping machine. "Thank you."

Sitting up, Blake rubbed at her eyes, yawning hugely. "I fell asleep?" she wondered out loud, blinking a few times. The last thing she remembered was how good it was to touch Ruby, before an uncontrollable exhaustion swept over her.

Now, when she casually swept a lock of her red-streaked hair behind one ear, she didn't feel anything except the warm pressure of skin on skin.

 _Oh. I think it's over._

Smiling ruefully, she bent down, kissing Ruby on her cheek and Yang on hers. Then she clambered over them, stretching the kinks out of her back and heading towards the bathroom to take a shower.

When she returned, Ruby and Yang were still asleep, cuddled up in a tight knot. "You two," she said, "Need to get up before Weiss catches us like this."

"Mrrrn."

"What Ruby said."

Blake shrugged. "Want me to get breakfast and coffee? What do you want to do now?"

"Coffee, please," Yang sighed. But then she turned around, a sudden twinkle lighting up in her eyes. "Although… I actually do know a little something I'd like to do before Weiss gets home. Just the three of us."

Blake raised one brow but didn't question her. About an hour later she came back with a takeout bag, balancing a row of disposable coffee cups as she nudges the room door open with a foot. Turns out, Yang already had what she wanted to do all planned out; she and Ruby had it spread out across the floor.

"Yay, breakfast!" Ruby said, pausing long enough to stand up and give Blake a quick peck on the lips. To her own confusion, no heat sprung up between them. If anything, it was a little unwelcome.

"Oof," she said, giving Ruby one last kiss on the forehead as an apology. "Maybe a little less of that for a while, fearless leader."

Ruby understood at once. "Heat all done?"

"Heat all done."

She pouted, a bit, before tilting her head to the side and asking, "But we can still read and cuddle together, right?"

"Of course. Now what exactly are you two up to without me…?" Setting down on the floor next to Yang, Blake reached out to give her a coffee when the door slammed open behind her.

Weiss Schnee, heir apparent to the SDC, strolled in with her luggage squeaking on its wheels behind her. "And just _what_ –" she demanded, eyes narrowing. "Is going on here?"

"Uh oh," Yang said, bracing for impact. "You're home early?"

Weiss set her purse aside, huffing loudly. "How dare you three play my favorite card game without me!" She gestured to the playing cards scattered across the floor. "The absolute _nerve_."

Ruby started snickering, earning an ear tug from her partner. "Owowowow! I'm not making fun of you, Weiss, I swear!" She shook her head free. "It's just– ehehe– it's just ah– haheheh… It's funny you mention doing things without you cause uh, aheh–"

Covering her mouth with a hand, Blake tried to keep a lid on her own laughter as Weiss started interrogating their leader, growing more and more shrill as Ruby refused to share what, exactly, was so funny.


	5. Chapter 5

"Come on, you."

There was no time to argue before Weiss strode past Yang, viciously grasping onto the shell of her ear and pulling as she walked. Struggling to her feet, Yang yelped and walked with her, bent over double to keep at the same level of her hand.

"Ow! What? Where are we going, you just got here?"

A small mercy; Weiss let her go to stare up at her with a sour expression, her thin lips pressed together so tightly they threatened to disappear.

"Yang Xiao Long," she said, and Ruby giggled to hear her slip into what Ruby dubbed her 'mom' voice. "I've been stuck with my family for two weeks while my sister was in town, completely on my own. Where do you _think_ I want to go?"

Yang rolled her shoulders, clucking her tongue in disapproval. "Bad girl. But okay, just give me two minutes to find my keys."

"You have one," Weiss said, and strutted outside to wait.

* * *

After making sure Weiss had her helmet on snug and tight, Yang revved up the engine and took off. She kept her bike parked in a lot downtown, since students weren't allowed to bring vehicles up to Beacon. Something about transport fees, and anyway it was a hassle to take a ship or a trolley up the mountain with an entire bike in tow.

Weiss let out a squeal as they made the first sharp turn, barely audible over the winds, but Yang heard it anyway and grinned.

She made sure to take the long, scenic route. Weiss held onto her for dear life, occasionally pressing her face to Yang's back when she couldn't take it anymore, probably clenching her eyes shut in the wake of all the adrenaline.

They finally arrived at the old, abandoned farmhouse on the edge of the city limits, in the agriculture district. Weiss looked bedraggled and supremely satisfied, a lazy grin on her face and her eyes half-lidded and loopy with pleasure. When she heard Yang chuckle she straightened out, her stern expression returning as she took her helmet off, shaking her hair free.

With Weiss still on the bike, Yang rolled it inside the structure for a small amount of privacy.

"Thank you," Weiss said primly, setting the helmet down on the empty seat in front of her.

"Any time, princess," Yang said, reclining against the dilapidated wall. Every few minutes, a car drove past, but for the most part they were completely alone. "So, how bad was it?"

"Awful." Weiss made a face, getting to her feet and stretching. "Just awful. I have to pretend I care about manners when I'm with them. Play nice, get muzzled." She bared her teeth at Yang in a silent snarl, a little joke they shared that described what words couldn't. People who weren't in their life- people who weren't out there on the front lines- just didn't understand. Out on a mission, or even just in the classroom, things were different in Beacon.

Without the Grimm, Yang wasn't sure what would happen to people like her and Weiss.

Shaking her head, Yang just laughed. "We missed you, babe."

"I missed you, too." She stepped forward, reaching out a hand palm upwards, her nails twitching inwards in a grabbing motion. "Now give me a cigarette."

"I didn't bring any."

"Ughhh." She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms.

Yang winked at her. "You were the one who was in a rush. But here's a wild idea- why don't you start buying your own cigs, rich girl?"

"Well, I do have my own..." Weiss muttered.

"The fuck! And you've been making me do it this whole time... why?"

The pouch at her waist opened up, a thin silver cigarette case folded in there. Weiss pulled out a single cigarette, eyebrows upturned dolefully. "I like them better after they've been sitting in your jacket for a while."

"That's gay," Yang said, but she snapped her fingers and lit the cigarette for Weiss anyway.

The other girl took a deep drag, letting it out in a hiss of pleasure between clenched white teeth. "I know. That's why you're also going to kiss me senseless once we're done with half this pack."

Yang blinked a few times, retreating back to the barnhouse wall. "Uh."

"Something wrong?"

Shuffling her feet around, Yang paid too much attention to her boots. There were old, burnt up stubs left from their last few trips here, this quiet place where no one knew them, where they could blow off steam however they needed to. "Maybe. A little."

She rolled her eyes again. "Having second thoughts after all, are we? Is it because of our dear, sweet Blake and her uncontrollable urges?"

"She can control them!" Yang said quickly, too quickly, probably, but she'd always worn her heart on her sleeve like that. "But that's not why. I mean it kind of is why."

"Did you really kiss her," Weiss asked, and just to tease her, sent a few rings of smokes floating her way. "Or did you send that message just to make me jealous?"

Angrily, Yang waved the rings away. "Give me that," she said, snatching the cigarette from Weiss so she could have a turn. "And yes, I really did kiss her and it was really great." She hesitated a moment, her internal struggle visible. "And… we slept together, too."

All her cool amusement drained away in a snap. "You took advantage of her heat?" she asked, getting closer. Her own eyes never got bright and hot like Yang's, but instead dropped several hundred degrees, jagged like ice picks.

"No!" Yang said defensively, turning aside and protectively holding onto the cigarette. "If anything, she took advantage of it!"

"Unbelievable," Weiss said.

"It's not like," Yang started, busying her mouth with a few more puffs of smoke so she could collect her thoughts. It didn't work. "It's not like you and her didn't- and Ruby, too- so you can't get mad at me!"

"I had self control, Yang!"

"And again!" Her face was heating up now, color rising in her cheeks. "Ruby was with me too, so I don't see why you're scolding me and not her!"

Weiss' eyes narrowed. "Oh, she'll get her turn when I-" And then she paused. "... _Too_?" Weiss repeated, sounding the word out loud, clearly asking for Yang to disagree or correct her.

This time, Yang's face lit up like a bomb, red from the base of her neck to the tips of her ears. Her entire cigarette burst into flames, falling down as a cylinder of ash as she covered her face with both hands, groaning in pain.

The heiress just said, "You're paying for that."

"Like you don't bum a cig off me every time we come out here to smoke," Yang grumbled from behind her palms.

"These are actually a good brand." She took out another cigarette, licking her lips once before pressing it between them. "Another light, Yang."

One hand still on her face, Yang wordlessly held out her hand and let Weiss come to the flame, lighting it herself from the spark of Yang's semblance. Awkward silence fell over them, Weiss occasionally making noises of thought as she finished off another cigarette. "So you finally made your move?" She thought out loud, and when Yang dared to look at her again her ice had softened, eyes downcast.

"Y… we… yeah." Yang's jaw clenched in preparation. "Yeah. But- but-"

"But you're in love with Ruby, I know, I know." She laughed, short and without humor. "Anyone with eyes can see that, Yang. Ugghhh," she crushed the cigarette beneath her heel. "Now who's left for me? I thought you'd never get the guts to do it."

"Well geez," Yang said, mouth tightening in a frown. "Go kiss Blake again if you need it that bad!"

Weiss stood up straight. "I don't like Blake like that! It was the heat!"

"Yeah, right!"

Saving them both from an outright brawl, Yang's scroll began to beep in a familiar pattern. Ruby's custom ring tone. Sparing one last glare at Weiss, Yang opened up the scroll and checked the message.

 **[Ruby Rose]** are you two making out ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Her heart nearly stopped in fright. Of course Ruby had to have known about the other times- it wasn't like Weiss was ever known to keep her mouth shut. Worried now, she quickly typed back a response while Weiss fumed over a third cigarette, one she lit herself.

 **[Yangarang]** uh. no. we're smoking

"It's Ruby," she muttered out loud, even as her cheeks heated up again.

"Don't tell her we're smoking," Weiss said quickly, eyes widening.

"Too late."

"Damn it!"

 **[Ruby Rose]** gross! you better rinse your mouth before you kiss me! XP

 **[Ruby Rose]** or do anything else with your lips ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 **[Yangarang]** when did you get this lewd?

 **[Yangarang]** and what the hell is that emoji

 **[Ruby Rose]** ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

"If you want me to be your beard," Weiss said out loud, sounding low and thoughtful. "I can do that while you date her low key." She shook her hair over her shoulder again; it kept falling out of place when it wasn't in its proper ponytail. "Nobody outside the team can tell, probably. And Ruby is my partner, so of course I'll hang out with you."

"Now wait just a second-" Yang started, but Weiss cut her off.

"Listen, I'm doing you a favor," she said, eyebrows pinching together. And then Yang's scroll lit up again and she had to pay attention to Ruby or else she'd get mad.

 **[Ruby Rose]** Anyway, it's okay with me if you kiss Weiss! I know you had a thing going on while you and I were trying to see other people

 **[Yangarang]** Now wait just a second

 **[Ruby Rose]** Really! It's okay!

 **[Ruby Rose]** You shared me with Blake! So I think it's only fair

Weiss was speaking again. "And really, that was pretty insensitive of me to say," she said. "I know you've been in love with Ruby since- well, since before I entered the picture."

"Ever since I met her," Yang agreed quietly.

 **[Yangarang]** Well, if it's okay with you, I'm going to see if it's okay with Weiss.

 **[Ruby Rose]** Yayyyy!

 **[Ruby Rose]** I don't know if I want to kiss Weiss too, though :( Tell her that, okay

 **[Ruby Rose]** You're the one I want to kiss

 **[Ruby Rose]** And Blake, too, when she's in the mood for it.

 **[Yangarang]** I'll bring it up.

"Still," Weiss said. "This is going to be harder than I thought."

"Yeah, and Blake's all heat'd out, so no kisses there." Yang pocketed her scroll.

She made a disgusted noise under her breath. "I know you probably won't believe me, but I really don't like her that way. She's a friend, and an important one." She rolled her shoulders. "Besides, don't you think that would be odd? I'm a Schnee. She blew up some of my trains. It would be tense."

"A little tension can be good, though," Yang said before snagging an arm around Weiss' waist and pulling her close. With her free hand, she plucked the cigarette from between Weiss' lips, kissing her firmly before she could say anything.

The smaller girl squeaked in surprise, hands clutching onto Yang's jacket and opening her mouth to the kiss out of habit. What Yang lacked in finesse she made up for in enthusiasm, always just handsy enough to skirt the line between a caress and a grope.

Weiss groaned at the contact, needy and whining for more before her eyes snapped open and she pushed Yang away with both hands, gasping out, "Wait! Wait. We need to not do that! Yang, what are you-" she started trying to wrestle Yang's hands off of her to no avail. Yang just held her closer, grinning as she took the chance for another drag on the cigarette.

"You are a brute," Weiss said.

"You like it," Yang said around a plume of smoke. "And Ruby said it's okay for us to do whatever we want, since she had sex with Blake."

"Didn't you have a threesome?"

Yang made a noncommittal noise, holding her hand flat and wiggling it from side to side. "Ehh? Kind of? More like a Ruby spoiling session."

That made Weiss hum in thought, a sudden light of understanding entering her eyes. Sneaking her arms underneath Yang's, she held her in a loose embrace. The press of a small, warm body against hers made Yang's neck hair stand on end, but she wasn't going to push her luck until she knew what Weiss wanted to do. Feeling indulgent, she carefully angled the cigarette down to Weiss' lips. When she gingerly arched her neck forward, Weiss was careful not to take the cigarette away, instead drawing the smoke between her lips right from Yang's hand.

Yang smoked the rest once she was done before dropping it and crushing it under her boot.

"Yeah," Yang said. "Blake and I didn't really do more than kiss each other a little. Then we kinda like…" Shared her. The thought came up unbidden, making Yang's face heat up again. "Well it was like we were both having sex with Ruby at the same time."

Weiss grip around her tightened. "And then you and Ruby…?" she asked, keeping her tone light, but Yang could sense eagerness behind it.

"...Are you getting off on this?"

"I'm curious, Yang. It's not every day you get to interrogate someone about their threesome." She tugged on her jacket again. "Come on! Details, or change the subject!"

Reversing their positions barely took any effort at all, Yang kept Weiss pinned against the wall, grinning down at her. One hand palmed down the shoulder of her bolero, inching beneath the fabric to stroke bare skin. "You are getting off on it," Yang accused her. "What, you want to know if she was better than you?"

Weiss sucked in a breath, catching her lower lip between her teeth as she looked up at Yang with open pleading in her eyes. "N… no."

"Hmm, hmmm."

Another text message sounded out; Yang thumbed a message to Ruby while keeping her forearm pressed against the wall, free hand curling through the decoration in Weiss' hair.

 **[Ruby Rose]** Oh can you bring home some coffee on your way back?

 **[Yangarang]** Of course, sweetheart

 **[Yangarang]** Also, Weiss wants to know all the sordid details about last night

 **[Ruby Rose]** Σ(゜ロ゜;) DON'T TELL HER WE HAD A THREESOME

 **[Ruby Rose]** WE NEED TO BREAK THAT TO HER SLOWLY

 **[Yangarang]** Too late

 **[Ruby Rose]** Aghhhh! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

 **[Yangarang]** Hahaha.

 **[Yangarang]** I love you, Rutabaga.

 **[Yangarang]** Rebel

 **[Yangarang]** god damn it

 **[Ruby Rose]** are you drunk

 **[Yangarang]** Autocorrect. It's hard to type with one hand

 **[Ruby Rose]** Oooh? And where's your other hand ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 **[Yangarang]** STOP WITH THE FACE

Weiss got up to the tips of her toes, kissing Yang along the curve of her neck. Yang shivered from head to sole, trying to type quickly as her buttons popped free, one by one.

"You're too tall," she groused, pulling the hem of Yang's shirt up over her breasts.

Yang reached behind her, grabbing a handful of her ass in a sharp pinch. "Maybe you're just too tiny," she said. "Do you really want to know what Ruby did to me?"

"Yes," she breathed, teeth digging into the swell of breast spilling out over her bra.

Yang let her scroll drop; it'd survived much worse from their treks out into the wilderness. Both hands tugged on Weiss' skirt, pulling it up to caress her hips. She held her in place, nails digging in and squeezing. "We were kinda hopped up on sex pheromones," Yang said, "But I'd wanted it for so long, and you weren't around to take the edge off, either…"

She thrust her lower lip out in a false, mocking pout. "Poor baby."

Yang kissed her to keep her quiet for a moment, liking how ready she was to accept it, the occasional flicker of tongue making her moan at the contact, remembering how it felt between her thighs or thrust inside her.

"Her hands were so soft, and so sweet," she said against Weiss' lips, fingers trailing the lacey hem of her underwear. "I came almost as soon as she touched me."

She reached down the front, parting soft tufts of hair with her fingers. They both jumped in fright when they heard a car rush past, on the road just outside, but after pausing a moment they continued, knowing if anyone approached they could sense it with their aura.

Yang kissed her again, humming in approval at the slick heat already coating her fingers. She pushed inside her with her ring and middle finger, keeping her palm a steady presence against Weiss' clit. The smaller girl moaned at the contact, threatening to wriggle free if Yang didn't keep her pinned properly.

"Ah, god." Weiss grit her teeth, holding onto Yang with a deathly tight grip. "I needed this."

"A smoke?" Yang asked, leaning down to kiss her on both cheeks, fondly pressing another on the top of her head as well. "Or a drive around on a motorcycle, with a girl in a leather jacket, who'll fuck you against a wall?"

A ragged laugh was all the answer she got out of Weiss. She came quickly after that, clenching tightly around Yang's fingers and choking down a needy sob. Limp in Yang's arms, she rested her forehead against the larger girls' chest, breathing heavily.

"Bad, bad girl," Yang said, giving her ass another pinch.

Her reward was a razor-sharp noise, like steel ringing next to her ears. Cold, stiff bonds wrapped around her wrists, yanking her hands up over her head, and lifted her up. "Honestly," Weiss said, twisting her fingers for another set of glyphs. She tacked Yang to the wall like a trophy, high enough to only letting the tips of her toes support her on the ground.

For her part, Yang just grinned. She tested the strength of the glyphs on her wrist, twisting and straining at it, but nothing broke them. "This is new."

"I'm not in the mood to fight you for an orgasm, dear." Weiss stepped forward, grabbing her by the chin and shaking her head from side to side. "Now, open your legs for me."

"Okie dokie."

Her face fell flat. "Don't say okie dokie when we're having sex."

Frowning, Yang tilted her head to the side in confusion. "...Roger that?"

Weiss hooked her fingers around the waistband of Yang's shorts, pulling them down past her hips. "Let's try, _yes ma'am._ "

Yang's eyes widened. "Ooh. Yes ma'am!"

"Good." She went down to her knees, taking Yang's shorts with her and getting caught at her boots. Rather than wasting time taking those off as well, she left them trapped around Yang's ankles. It'd make what she wanted to do a little harder, but it was as Yang said: a little tension could be good.

Yang was already wet, almost shamefully so. Parting her with her fingers, Weiss tongued her roughly, working around the fact that Yang's legs were pinned fairly close together. She didn't complain at all, happily moaning and bucking her hips forward. Her arms strained, muscles rigidly defined as she came wrapped around Weiss' tongue, her hands flaring out wide with the urge to touch and grab.

With a snap of her fingers, Weiss released Yang. She landed clumsily on the soles of her feet, knees buckling for a moment before she righted herself. Shaking, she pulled up her pants and then grabbed Weiss, kicking her legs out from underneath her to tackle her to the floor.

"You're paying for my gas," Yang said, giving her a flurry of kisses all over her face while she loudly protested.

.

* * *

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 **A/N:** The reason I can write more delicious smut is because I have a now! Please consider pledging a dollar to me so that I can continue writing and not get a real job like society tells me to.


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